Mine-car truck



J. M. CAMERON.

MINE CAR TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED IIIAY 21. IszI.

l ,4 l 9, 2 l 8 Patented June 13, 1922.

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J. M. CAMERON.

MINE CAR TRUCK.

APPLICATION FILED MIIY 21, 192|.

Patented Jun 13, 1922.

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0 I 3 A f 6 I 2 ZI I M I I I IH J JM o 77 n o 6 o o o Q n o o 7 2. o a, o o o q w, a. o O O o O O O. fw F o v o n O O 2v O On 7 m A Q-? 3 0 6I- I 0 2 2 VII l 0 .I M @EL JOHN M. CAMERON, 0F DGR/CHESTER, VRGINIA.

MINE-CAR. TRUCK.

iaiaais.

Application filed 27,

To @ZZ 'whom t may concern:

Be it known that l, JOHN M. CAMERON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Dorchester, in the county or Wise and State of Virginia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Mine-Car Trucks, or which the following is a specification.

rilhis invention relates to mine cars and has special reference to the means for mounting the body ot the car upon the wheels and the axle. So far as l am aware, all mine cars have heretofore employed a rigid construction because the service required has proven too severe for the spring or flexible mountings which have been heretofore suggested. The tracks inmines are ot narrow gage and the curves are necessarily of small radius so that the'car truclr is necessarily built with a small distance between the axles and with short axles but the car bodies are relatively very large so as to carry a good load and, therefore, there is a great overhang at each end of the car as well as on both sides. This overhanging construction places tremendous strain on the car body, the wheelsand the truck mechanism when rounding curves or passing over bad track so that flexible construction has heretofore tailed. The tracks in mines are also laid Without ballasting and are fastened in any convenient manner so that they soon become `distorted and frequently a car will be required to run on three wheels or even two wheels inasmuch as the bad dips or rises in the track rails will prevent all the wheels being upon the rails' at the same time owing to the rigid construction of the body and the truck and the rigid mounting or' the axles upon the truclr and body. rlhis inability of all the wheels to remain upon the rails causes 'frequent derailments and, even when derailments do not occur, the strain upon the car is so severethat frequent repairs are necessary.

The objects 0i' my invention, therefore, are to provide a car truck having more 0r`less ilexibility without any sacriiice of strength; to provide a mine car truck of such construction that the wheels will y follow the irregularities and dips in theV track without leaving the rails; to provide a mine car truck in which the load will be carried by the axle on each side of each wheel, instead of between the wheels only, thereby increasing the strength of the truck; to provide a mine car truck in which the weight Specification of Letters Patent. Pgmgnted JUE@ 13, 1922 zaai. serial no. 473,134.

ot the load will be so distributed upon the axle that an axle of less diameter than has been heretoiore necessary may be used, and

to improve generally-the constructionandr arrangement of the parts of a mine car truck to the end that the durability and elhciency of the samevr will be increased. ihese several stated objects and such other objects as will incidentally appear in the course or theviiollowing description are attained in such a construction as is illustrated in the accompanying` drawings and the invention resides in certain novel features which will be particularly pointed out in the claims following the description.

ln the drawings` i Figure l is a transverse section of a car truck embodying my improvements;

lig. 2 is a bottom plan view of the same;

rig. 3 is a side elevation of one end of the truck;

nldig. 4 is a longitudinal section of one end orthe truck;

Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of a plate employed as an axle mounting and hanger, showing the saine as it appears ,be-y fore its endsare given their final configuration. f

rThe axle l is of the usual formation, although it may be of less diameter than is now generally employed and the wheels 2 are mounted loosely upon the axle adjacent the ends of the same. iioor 3 of the car body is a hanger plate 4 which may be provided along its medial longitudinal line with a shallow groove 5 to receive the axle when the car is loaded. To the under side of this plate andextending longitudinally thereof, l secure the angle bars G which are spaced apart a distance slightly greater than the diameter of the axle with their vertical webs or flanges disposed in 'liront and .in rear oit the axle respectively, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, the said vertical webs ortlanges thereby constituting a channel in which the axle may have verticalplay within definite limits. To prevent" the axle dropping trom; between the angle bars, straps 7 are provided, the intermediate portions oit the straps passing across the lower edges of the vertical webs of the angle bars and bridging thekchann'el deliued by said barsy and the ends of the straps being riveted or otherwise l'irmly securedto the hanger plate el., as will be readily understood upon reference toV Figs. 2 and 4t. The

Extending runder the length of the hanger plate 1 is greater than the width of the car floor or bottom 3 and the end portions of said plate beyond the angle bars G are bent into arch forni, as shown at 8, so that they will extend over the car wheels and have their extremities disposed vertically at the outer sides of the wheels and provided at their extremities with openings 9 to receive the ends of the axle. The hanger plate is preferably constructed of high tensile steel `so that the arched portions thereof will be somewhat resilient and may yield toa heavy load, so that an empty car or a car with light load will have its floor or bottom supported in spaced relation to the axle, as indicated. in Figs. 1 and f1, andthe weight of the car will be carried by the ends of the axles outside the wheels. l/Vlien the car is loaded, however, the resilient arches S will yield to the weight of the load and the interinediate portion of the hanger plate -1 will then drop so as to rest upon the axle and the load will consequently be distributed through the entire length of the axle. I am thus enabled to use an axle of less diaineterthan has heretofore been necessary. The hanger plate et is obviously of rather thin material and to` prevent excessive wear upon the ends of the axle, I secure reinforcing plates 10 to the extremities of the hanger plate at the outer sides of the same which will provide a more extended bearing upon the axle and thereby prevent cutting of the same by the edges or walll of the opening 9. To further reinforce the truck, I employ a connecting plate 11 which is disposed below the floor 3 of the car and extends between. the two hanger plates e of the truck, the front and rear snik of saidplate being rigidly secured to the under sides ofthe intermediate portions of the said hanger plates, and the inner ends of the strap 7 may be secured to the under sides of said plates, as shown in Fig. 4l. I also employ tie bars 12 which are preferably pressed steel plates having their intermediate portions flat horizontally and their end portions flat andextended'vertically so as to fit about the extremities of the axle. The formation of these tie bars` imparts considerable flexibility to them without detracting from their strength and they serve to prevent spreading of the extremities of the axle, as will be readily understood.

In Fig. 1, I have indicated the brackets 13 `which are employed to connectthe sides of t-he car body to the lloor or bottom thereof but as the body itself forms no part of my invention I' have deemed illustration of the same unnecessary. l

It will be readily seen from the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, that I have provided a truck for mine cars in which the axles will have free vertical movement valong their entire length within definite limits and a portion of the load will be carried by the ends of the axles outside the wheels, while the remainder of the load will be evenly distributed over the length of the axles between the wheels. The coupling plates 11 and the tie bars 12 reinforce the truck against shocks without interfering at all with the vertical movement of the axle or of the truck relative to the axle so that the wheels may remain on the track rails under all conditions and the axle is prevented from leaving the truck even if the car should be overturned. When Athe car is running empty or with a light load, the weight will be carried by the resilient arches at the ends of the axles andfany desired: flexibility of these arches maybe obtained by varying the shape `or size of the same.' Then the ca'r is fully loaded, the intermediate portion of` the hanger platewill rest upon the `axle and should any one wheel of the truck encounter a dip or low spot in the track, the load on that particular` wheel will be carried by the spring arch without causing a tipping of the car body so that the distorted strains imposed upon the car body will be reduced to a minimum. The tie bars extending between `the ends of the axles at each side of the truck aid the resilient arches in maintaining the normal level of the car bodywhen the truck is passing over an irregular track andthe possibly greater cost of substituting my improved truck for the trucks now generally employed is more than offset by the saving inthe cost of repairs and maintenance effected by its use.

` lt will be readily noted that Athe axle in my improved truck is received in a channel extending across the bottom ofthe car which permits the wheels to follow dips in` the track and avoid liability to derailment. If it should be desired to have a rigidV truck for any reason, suchas the top-heavy form or loading ofthe car body, fillers may be easily inserted in the channel above the axle orbetween theaxle and the yendV straps.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

1. In a mine car truck, the combination of an axle, wheels` mounted thereon, and a hanger plate disposed between the wheels over the axle and providedA at its ends with resilient portions engaging the ends of the axle at the outer sides ofA thewheels.`

2*. In a mine` car truck, the' combination of an axle, wheels mounted upon the axle, and a hanger plate supported upon the ends of the axle at the outer sides of the wheels and providedbetween the wheelswith a depending` channel receiving` the axle.

3. In a mine car truck, the combination of an axle, wheels mounted thereon, alianger plate supportedj at its endsupon the axle at the outer sides of the wheels and provided between the wheels with a depending chan` nel receiving the axle, and means carried by said hanger plate to retain the axle in said channel. n

4. In a mine car truck, the combination of an axle, wheels mounted upon the axle, a hanger plate supported at its ends upon the axle at the outer sides of the wheels, webs depending from the intermediate portion of the hanger plate between the wheels at the opposite sides of the axle, and straps secured to the hanger plate and bridging the said webs below the axle.

5. In a mine car truck, the combination of a pair of axles, wheels mounted upon the axles, hanger plates supported upon the respective axles at the outer sides of the wheels and disposed over the axle between the wheels, means for preventing displacement of said hanger plates relative to the respective axles and permitting relative vertical movement of the axle and the intermediate portion of the respective hanger plate, and a coupling plate secured to and extending between said hanger plates.

6. In a mine car truck, the combination of a pair of axles, wheels mounted on the axles, hanger plates disposed above the respective axles and supported by the ends thereof at the outer sides of the wheels,

means whereby a limited relative vertical movement of the hanger plates and the axles n will be permitted, and flexible tie bars connecting the ends of the axles. Y, 7. In a mine car truck, the combination of a pair of axles, wheels mounted thereon, hanger plates disposed above the respective axles and supported by the ends thereof at the outer sides of the wheels, means whereby a limited relative vertical movement of the hanger plates and the axles will be permitted, a coupling plate secured to and extending between the hanger plates, and flexible tie bars connecting the ends of the axles. 8. In a mine car truck, the combination of a pair of axles, wheels on the axles, channels disposed over the axles between the wheels, means whereby a limited free vertical relative movement of the axles and the channels will be permitted, and a coupling plate connecting the channels.

9. In a mine car truck, the combination p of a pair of axles, wheels 0n the axles, channels disposed over the axles between the wheels, means whereby a limited relative movement of the axles and the wheels will be permitted, and flexible tie bars connecting the axles.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature.

JOHN IVI. CAMERON. [Ls] 

